the day as he has!'--'Augh!' said Katheen, 'you lazy _puckaun_, did ye never hear that the early bird _ketches_ the worm?'--'Troth, an' I did,' says I, 'putting on my shirt; 'but what an _ummadhaun_ the worm must be to get up afore him.'--'An' over an' above,' says Katheen, 'the man that was on the road betimes in the mornin' found a purse.'--'Ay!' says I, 'but the poor divil that lost it was there first.'--'Oh, the _divil_ be width ye! stop there till ye're stiff av ye like,' said Katheen, and run down stairs afore I could say Jack Robison. Well, then, yir honor, I was soon drest an' up; so, as I'd _ped_ my way _the night_, I had _nawthin'_ to do but pass clane through the kitchen in the mornin', an' take to the road agen, when I saw Katheen a-lightin' the fire. I just stepped towards her for a kiss _a-dhurrus_, when she cried murther in Irish, loud enough to waken the whole house; so I thought I'd have nothin' more to do width her this time, and went my ways p_a_ceably. It was a fine mornin', barrin' the mist, that wudn't let ye see a yard afore ye at a time, an', to be sure, I _kep_ it up at a fine rate 'till I r_a_ched the town of Kilcronan. But, what d'ye think happened me there, yir honor?" "I'm sure I cannot say," said I. "Well, then, I'll tell ye, sir. As I was passin' by a pawnbroker's that was settin' out his goods for sale, what did I see but a lookin'-glass starin' me in the face, an' a blackamoor's head in the middle of it. Well, I look'd, and look'd, and look'd agen, but divil a bit was it like me; so, turnin' 'pon my heel, 'Bad look to them!' says I, 'they've woke the _wrong man_;' for yir honor remimbers that I slept width a _furrener_ the night afore, and left orders to be called early; so I had nothin' for it but run back agen as hard as I could lay foot to ground for twelve honest miles; and lucky sure it was that the fog was so thick as ye could cut it with a knife, or I'd av' 'ad the divil's own time of it on the way. But, as it happened, I met nobody that knew me, 'cept blind M'Diarmot the sign-painther." "Sign-painter!" exclaimed I. "I thought you said he was blind." "Augh! sure it was afore he lost his eye-sight," said Darby, "that he was the most illigant sign-painther in the county. Didn't he paint _The Pig and Thrush_ for Mat Sleven; an' _The Three Blacks_, that ye'd take for two twins, they're so like one anuther; and _The Red Herrin'_ for Pat Gaveny in the market, that look'd so _salt_ it made yir mouth wather to that degree, that ye cudn't help, passin' by, goin' in to have a drop. Oh! it brought powers of custom anyhow!" "How did he lose his eyes?" inquired I.